Deadly Victor Wembanyama skill the Spurs must see more of next season

The San Antonio Spurs are likely watching the NBA playoffs and dreaming about getting back there next season. They certainly can, but they will need to fix some roster flaws, not to mention figure out how to best utilize star Victor Wembanyama.

Wembanyama will hopefully come back better than ever next season after missing half the season with deep vein thrombosis. When he does, he will hopefully have a couple of new skills to work with.

When the Spurs first signed Chris Paul, the prevailing thought was that they would be running plenty of pick-and-rolls. The reason is that Paul has thrived historically playing next to athletic big men who can roll to the basket and crush lobs, with Tyson Chandler, DeAndre Jordan, and Deandre Ayton being among the most prolific lob targets from his past.

Surprisingly, however, the Spurs virtually never ran pick and roll with Paul and Wembanyama.

The Spurs must use Wembanyama more in pick-and-rolls next season

Instead, Paul would often find Wembanyama for threes in pick-and-pops. To be fair, some of that may have been the Spurs trying to get him more in-game reps shooting threes, and also because Wembanyama doesn't set hard screens just yet.

Don't get me wrong, that was useful with Wembanyama showing off a facet to his game that was previously only theoretical. Nevertheless, the Spurs left plenty of points on the table by not utilizing Wembanyama's height and length to put pressure on the rim.

While rolling to the basket is generally something a star big man wouldn't necessarily do, it could significantly benefit both Wembanyama and the Spurs. After all, he has yet to fully make use of his height on the offensive end.

His setting screens to allow the likes of De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle separation would force Wembanyama's man to slide over to ward off drives. That would allow him to sprint to the basket, giving Fox or Castle a big moving target to hit en route to an easy basket. With Wembanyama playing the five, there would be no one to challenge him.

He could unlock his game by taking more mid-range jumpers and rolling to the basket

He could also stand to take some pick-and-pops from mid-range ala LaMarcus Aldridge. That would get him higher percentage shots and allow him to diversify his shot profile. Not just that, but it would add some unpredictability to his game.

Teams would have to be prepared for Wembanyama to roll to the basket, stop and pop from the mid-range, or step out and spot up from outside. When bigger, slower players are on him, he can step out and take threes in the pick-and-pop situations or roll to the basket when guarded by a shorter player who can't contest the lob.

All told, Wembanyama doing more work in the pick-and-pop by rolling to the basket and also taking mid-range jumpers would make him more efficient by getting him easier shots. If he can add those skills to his game, then it could help to make him unstoppable offensively.